Pak envoy asks for increased Green Climate Fund

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Masood Khan has proposed for a robust climate financing mechanism to support the flood victims and termed the Green Climate Fund insufficient.

While it was a collective responsibility to reduce the emissions, the international community must think of ways and means for compensation to those bearing the brunt of climate change despite making negligible contribution towards global warming, the ambassador said briefing the international media about the flood situation in Pakistan at the National Press Club here Friday.

“We should make a quick transition from mitigation and adaptation to preparedness and resilience,” he said, sharing harrowing details of devastation caused by the floods.

Responding to a question, the ambassador maintained that despite such horrific flood related disasters, Pakistan’s nuclear assets and nuclear system were secure and there was no vulnerability whatsoever.

He informed the audience that over 1,400 lives have been lost in Pakistan. More than 13,000 have been injured. A population of 33 million has been affected by flooding. Around 6.6 million people needed immediate assistance. Nearly 800,000 farm cattle have perished. Crops have been destroyed in an area as big as 5.5 million acres that includes all sorts of crops, including rice, wheat, corn and sugarcane. Over 7,000 kilometer-long roads have been washed away with 246 bridges destroyed.

He said that a satellite image released by the European Space Agency showed a new lake on the Indus River, which was 100-kilometer-long and tens of kilometers wide. “This has created its own disaster within a mega disaster”, he said, adding that the country could not have prepared for such kind of apocalyptic floods.

He said that as large as 5.5 million acres of cropland has been destroyed resulting in a looming food security crisis. “WFP and other international organisations must come forward and give necessary support to the people of Pakistan so that we can maintain our food security,” said the envoy.

Reiterating his appeal for greater contributions, the ambassador said that more resources would be required for recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. “It’s a continuum and we can’t leave the affected populations alone after the rescue and relief operations are over,” said the ambassador of Pakistan to the United States.